Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott earlier described the search as "a gut-wrenching business for so many people, not least those who are charged with keeping their citizens safe".

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Media captionTony Abbott: "If there is anything down there, we will find it"

"It's about the most inaccessible spot that you can imagine on the face of the earth, but if there is anything down there, we will find it," said Mr Abbott, who is currently visiting Papua New Guinea.

"We owe it to the families of those people (on board) to do no less."

But he also cautioned that the objects spotted by the satellites could be unrelated to the plane.

Flight MH370 was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it lost contact with air traffic controllers and disappeared from radar at 00:41 Saturday, 8 March (16:41 GMT, 7 March).

Satellite data has led to a search in two corridors to the north and south of its last known location in the Malacca Straits - the opposite direction from its flight path.

Image copyrightAFPImage caption
The St Petersburg, a Norwegian merchant ship, was the first vessel to reach the area

Malaysian officials say they believe the plane was intentionally diverted. Authorities in many countries have scrutinised the backgrounds of both passengers and crew on board but say they have no substantive leads.

Other reports of debris to date have proved not to be linked to the missing plane.

Four military planes, including three Orions belonging to the Royal Australian Air Force, were taking part in the search, Amsa said. A civilian Bombardier Global Express is also involved.